The Labour leader is in the middle of a row with his own MPs after reports
that he intends to promote controversial Mr Livingstone to his shadow
cabinet via the House of Lords

Jeremy Corbyn is facing a growing backlash among his own MPs amid claims he is planning to promote Ken Livingstone to his shadow cabinet by making him a peer.

The fears have been stoked by John Rees, a national officer at Stop the War coalition and ally of Mr Corbyn, who appeared to back a significant reshuffle to bolster the Labour leader's support.

A party source said Mr Corbyn wants to sure up his position by sacking some of his top team and promoting more of his own supporters to fill the gaps.

They suggested that Rosie Winterton the chief whip, and Michael Dugher the shadow culture secretary, could both be in the firing line.

Mr Corbyn is said to be planning a reshuffle for the New Year Photo: Rex

Mr Livingstone, the former London Mayor, already holds the position of defence advisor but the source said he could be given a more significant role as he shares many of Mr Corbyn's views.

Lord Prescott said: “Nothing's a surprise with Livingstone, is it?”, adding: “I've had to vote for him and hold my nose because he didn't want to carry out the party's policy. That's Ken Livingstone.”

The changes are understood to have been proposed as part of a New Year overhaul, although a Labour spokesman said no appointments have been decided or discussed.

Simon Danczuk, Labour MP for Rochdale, warned Mr Livingstone is too “extreme” and “aggressive” to be in the shadow cabinet and said Mr Corbyn would be going “in the wrong direction” if he chooses to promote the outspoken politician.

Mr Livingstone drew criticism from MPs after he said shadow defence minister Kevan Jones, who has suffered from depression, needed “psychiatric help”.

He then refused to apologise before being forced to backtrack, adding: “"He was rude about me, I was rude back to him. He needs to get over it."

A Labour source told the Telegraph that Mr Corbyn is considering a shadow cabinet reshuffle after facing a number of tough votes in parliament in recent weeks.

His current top team is roughly balanced between allies and Labour MPs who do not naturally support the leader in every policy decision but it has caused him problems on crunch votes like air strikes in Syria.

Mr Danczuk said: “Jeremy should draw his shadow cabinet from a wider pool – I don’t think Ken is up to it, he’s passed his sell-by date.

“There are a number of tests for Jeremy to meet and the shadow cabinet is important. What he did manage was to get it fairly balanced but if he starts packing it with people like Ken he’ll be going in the wrong direction.

“Ken’s politics are quite extreme but not only that, the guy is aggressive. The way he dealt with Kevan Jones was appalling; you don’t want someone at the top of the party with complete disregard for other elected representatives.”

Another Labour MP said simply: “Nothing would surprise me anymore”.

Mr Livingstone could join the House of Lords Photo: PA

Mr Livingstone has previously called for the House of Lords to be scrapped.

Last night Wes Streeting, a Labour MP, said: "Ken Livingstone's frequent appearances in the media have undermined the Labour party and its leadership.

"It would be better for everyone is he honoured the pledge he made to leave frontline politics after his second defeat in 2012."

The row came as John Rees from Stop the War backed a reshuffle and hinted that Mr Corbyn’s allies would support the move.

He said: “I would be surprised if Labour party members didn't want to see a leadership that more fundamentally agreed with the leading member that they overwhelmingly voted for in the leadership election.”

Stop the War march in Westminster Photo: JULIAN SIMMONDS

Mr Rees also declined the opportunity to brand Isil fascists, after controversially claiming the group is reacting to oppression against it.

He said: “I was always taught on the left that you shouldn’t spray the word fascist around to mean anybody that you disagreed with and I think it is more accurate to use it more precisely and historically.”

Even allies of Mr Corbyn are at odds over his support for the controversial group, as Richard Burgon said people who criticised the Labour leader for attending a Stop the War Christmas party were “mistaken”, while a fellow MP and Corbyn supporter Louise Haigh said she would not have anything to do with the group.

She added that Mr Corbyn is in danger of reinforcing negative views of him by attending events organised by Stop the War, after they published articles appearing to suggest France should blame itself for the terror attacks which killed 130.

It came as John McDonnell rubbished talk of plans to purge some MPs from the party after they opposed the Leader on Syria.

He said a small number of members have had difficulty adjusting to the “culture shock”, adding: “We just want to make sure there is a smooth path from being a centralised hierarchical party to a social movement.”